„Katastrophen Sind Prüfungen Allahs“: Alltagserfahrungen Muslimischer Gelehrter in Nord-Ghana

Authors

• Holger Weiss

Abstract

This article analyses interpretations by Muslim scholars of societal crises and
calamities in Ghana. The first part focuses on presentations by modern scholars
I interviewed in northern Ghana in 2001. The second part discusses two texts on
societal stress by al-Hajj ʿUmar ibn Abi Bakr ibn ʿUthman al-Kabbawi al-Kanawi
al-Salaghawi (d. 1934). What kind of event is seen as a catastrophe by Muslim
scholars? In general, the scholars distinguished between manmade catastrophes
and those sent by God. The first type includes the various so-called Northern
Conflicts of the 1990s. The second is interpreted as God testing a person and
his faith. The bottom line is the argument that sickness, lack of rain, and even
civil war can be interpreted as warnings and challenges for both the individual
and society.